Sometime around January 15th, I noticed that the "Copy Link" action extension that is built into the iOS App Store and the iOS iTunes Store were broken. "Copy Link" is an action extension that is built into the share sheet for each of Apple's iOS storefronts. Beginning with iOS 8, the "Copy Link" copied the title of the item selected in the store and a custom short URL. The trouble is, "Copy Link" no longer copies the short URL to the selected store item in most instances, it only copies the title of the item.

Since writing and tweeting about the problem, I have have discovered a few more details and heard from a number of people about the problem. Here's an update on what we know now:

The bug is global. I have heard from people all over North America, the United Kingdom and Europe who all report the same problem.

The bug appears to be a server-side Apple issue, not a bug in the apps themselves. This is, of course, conjecture, but seems logical given that there have been no recent updates to the iOS store apps.

The bug seems to be persistent. Except for one person who reports that the links work intermittently, "Copy Link" appears to have been broken continuously since around January 15th.

The bug affects more than just the App Store and iTunes Store. The iBooks store is also affected. The Podcast and iTunes U storefronts are not affected however, which is strange because both share the itun.es short URL used by the iTunes Store. Go figure.

The bug may manifest itself differently on different versions of iOS. I have not tested it myself, but I heard from one person that on iOS 7, "Copy Link" copies the link, but not the title of an item -- the exact opposite of iOS 8.

Short links still work. Although there is no way to generate a short appsto.re or itun.es URL in the affected apps currently, if you have a previously generated link, it works.

Sometime around January 15, 2015, the iOS App Store and iTunes Store stopped providing links to apps and other media. Hopefully this is just a temporary bug, but it seemed like as good a time as any to consider Apple's uneven history with linking from its stores.

In the beginning iTunes links reflected the WebObjects underpinnings of the store itself and looked like this:

That's a Green Day album by the way. Can't tell? Nor could anyone else.

The next iteration of App Store and iTunes links cleaned things up. That Green Day link became: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/21st-century-breakdown/id315607458. Without too much trouble, you can tell it is an album called 21st Century Breakdown. Look a little closer and you can see that the link points to the US store. These links are still with us today and are the foundation on which the affiliate linking program is based.

The trouble is, in an era of Twitter an itunes.apple.com link is too long -- that Green Day link has 68 characters. Sure, it's better than the old WebObjects links and there are plenty of URL shorteners out there, but third party URL shorteners mask the source of the URL.

One way Apple has dealt with this for a while is with what I call "short search URLs." These are not short URLs in the traditional sense. Instead of sending you to a specific item, a short search URL kicks of an iTunes Store search. If the search returns just one result, you are taken to that result. For instance, appstore.com/logmyrun, takes you straight to the iTunes page for Squibner's run tracking app. But a link like appstore.com/amazon takes you to a search results page with dozens of results.

With iOS 8, Apple quietly added custom short URLs to its iOS App Store and iTunes Store with the formats appsto.re and itun.es, but the implementation undermines the brevity of the links. Instead of just copying a short link, the "Copy Link" action extension copies the title of the item and a short link, which largely defeats the purpose of a short URL, especially with apps where titles are often crammed with SEO keywords. Even an app with a short, non-spammy name like Overcast results in 76 character copied to the clipboard:

Another issue is that few app extensions handle a mix of text and a URL well, which severely limits the utility of third party extensions within the Apple stores. Most share and action extensions just grab the title of an app, which is the part I am most likely to edit down to something shorter, and miss the URL altogether.

Short URLs are equally frustrating for anyone who uses iTunes affiliate links from an iOS device. The affiliate linking program has come a long way since the days when there were multiple providers covering different regions of the world, but the program works with itunes.apple.com URLs only. That's something we solve natively with our upcoming app Blink, but right now the best solution involves multiple extra steps that can only be mitigated somewhat by a combination of apps like Workflow or Pythonista with an app like Clean Link that can resolve the short URL to something usable as an affiliate link.

Which all brings me back to last night as I was working on Blink and thought I was passing it App Store links. At first I assumed it was me, but I soon discovered that the problem was that the short links had disappeared entirely from the the App and iTunes Stores. As of the writing of this, all that "Copy Link" copies is the title of the item. I'd like to think this portends something exciting like the imminent release of the developer analytics promised at WWDC last June, but more likely it's just a temporary glitch.

Current glitches aside, linking to iTunes media and the affiliate linking program are far better than just a few years ago. That said, there are a few things I would like to see Apple implement in the near term, including:

consistent use of short URLs across iOS and Mac;

giving users the option to exclude the title of an item from a copied URL; and

integration of short URLs with the affiliate linking program.

Those three items alone would vastly improve the linking experience across each of Apple's platforms.

Note: If you are interested in Squibner's upcoming app Blink, you can see some advance screen shots and sign up for updates as we approach the release day at getblinkapp.co.

Setting up LogMyRun actions in Launch Center Pro is easy. After you install Launch Center Pro on your iPhone or iPod Touch, tap the pencil icon in the upper right-hand corner of the app.

Next, pick a spot for your shortcut to a LogMyRun action by tapping "+" and choosing "Action" from the popup.

The Action Composer will appear, with links to all of the apps on your device that support Launch Center Pro. Scroll down to the LogMyRun icon and choose the action you want to add from the list.

That's it. You're finished. The next time you tap the LogMyRun icon in Launch Center Pro, it will take you right to the action you set up.

Creating frequently-used LogMyRun actions in Launch Center Pro is a great way to make tracking your runs on the go even easier. Launch Center Pro is available from AppCubby on the iTunes store for $2.99 and supports hundreds of apps. Try it and check out appcubby.com if you are curious which of your other apps support Launch Center Pro. LogMyRun is available on the iTunes Store for $1.99.

Another feature that sets LogMyRun apart from traditional paper-based running logs is its sharing features. LogMyRun users can share their runs with friends, family, teammates, coaches and others using Twitter and email.

LogMyRun is an easy way to enter data about your runs and track your progress; just like you would in a traditional paper-based running log. But with LogMyRun, you can take it a step further. LogMyRun keeps tabs on your runs automatically calculating all sorts of stats: weekly, monthly and annual mileage, fastest and slowest pace, and longest, shortest and average run distance. Each of these stats is available at the bottom of the main screen and can be accessed by swiping left and right to switch between stats views.

LogMyRun takes the traditional paper running log to a whole new level by taking your run data and displaying it graphically. Simply tap the "Graph My Runs" button from the main screen or tilt your iPhone into landscape mode when you are viewing your log. Your runs will be displayed as a graph, like this:

Owen's first app, MathTime, an app for kids who want to practice their math facts, was recently profiled by TimeOUt Chicago Kids along with five other apps built by kids under 16. You can read more here.

The good folks over at Traxee.com, an online community of women runners, has a feature on its blog about LogMyRunPacer that you can check out here. Beth Moore, a blogger at Traxee says:

I'm a lunatic for cool iPhone apps, so I really wanted to share this with you guys. . . . Just visit http://iTunes.com/apps/LogMyRunPacer to download this app free and try it out! If you like it or hate it, go ahead and rate John's app on iTunes and help him out! I'm sure he'd love the feedback.

Squibner Software is proud to announce that LogMyRun Pacer is now available in the App Store.

LogMyRun Pacer is a free pace calculator for runners. With Pacer you can calculate the pace of your last run, figure out how far you could run the next time you head out the door or determine your next race time at a particular pace. LogMyRun Pacer is easy to use and a great complement to a runner's daily running log. Try it out today for free!

I'm excited to announce that LogMyRun Pacer, a free utility for runners will be available next week on December 22nd. Just in time for Christmas! Pacer is a simple pace calculator for runners. Thanks to everyone who tested Pacer during its beta phase providing valuable insights during the final stages of development.

The Squibner team expanded into a family endeavor in 2010. Owen, Squibner's lead developer, and Finn, whose focus is design, were joined by me, John, as part time developer and head of business and marketing. LogMyRun Pacer is my first iOS application, which I designed and developed with some key assistance from Owen.

LogMyRun Pacer, was submitted to Apple for review on December 4, 2010 and we hope to have it in the App Store by Christmas. What is Pacer? It is a FREE ad-supported calculator for runners. With Pacer you can calculate the pace of your last run, figure out how far you could run the next time you head out the door or determine your next race time at a particular pace. RunLog Pacer is easy to use and a great complement to a runner's daily running log. Try it out today for free!

LogMyRun Pacer is a FREE ad-supported calculator for runners. With Pacer you can calculate the pace of your last run, figure out how far you could run the next time you head out the door or determine your next race time at a particular pace. RunLog Pacer is easy to use and a great complement to a runner's daily running log. Try it out today for free!

Squibner Software is proud to announce that Elementary School District 181, which serves Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and parts of Burr Ridge, Oak Brook and Willowbrook, Illinois has chosen MathTime to be included on about 150 school district iPod Touches that will be distributed to local elementary schools to help kids learn their math facts. It's an honor to have MathTime chosen by District 181 and gratifying to see that the district understands the power of the iPhone OS as a tool to help kids learn.

MathTime is a math flash card app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that has helped over 1500 kids learn basic math facts

We are pleased to announce an all new version of MathTime is now available on the iTunes App Store. The latest version features an all new colorful UI and an "About" tab that lets users follow Squibner on this site, Twitter and Facebook. We hope you like it. Keep an eye out for more great apps later from Squibner later this year.

Two days ago I submitted MathTime version 1.1 to Apple for review. I'm really excited to get users' reaction to the enhancements that I've made to the UI. The update also includes links to Squibner's follow-up MathTime EX app and ways to follow the apps that we have planned for 2010 in a new "About" tab.

I'm really excited about some great UI enhancements coming to MathTime that should make it an even more enjoyable way to learn basic math facts. The current version of MathTime (v1.01), a simple math flash card iPhone app is available now in the iTunes App store here. Stay tuned for the update, which adds several user interface enhancements. It's about 90% complete and will be submitted to Apple for approval before the end of the month.